{"id":299010,"date":"2023-11-12T00:09:35","date_gmt":"2023-11-12T00:09:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=299010"},"modified":"2023-11-12T00:09:35","modified_gmt":"2023-11-12T00:09:35","slug":"karim-benzema-scores-hat-trick-just-days-after-nuno-bust-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/karim-benzema-scores-hat-trick-just-days-after-nuno-bust-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Karim Benzema scores hat-trick just days after Nuno bust-up"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Are you watching Nuno? Karim Benzema scores a hat-trick to help Al-Ittihad get back to winning ways&#8230; Just days after the bust-up that saw the former Spurs boss sacked<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Karim Benzema scored a hat-trick as Al-Ittihad beat Abha in Saudi Pro League<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><b>Win came days after fall out between Benzema and former boss Nuno<\/b><\/li>\n<li><strong>What is the WORST Premier League hat-trick? &#8211; Find out on It&#8217;s All Coming Up<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Karim Benzema netted a hat-trick for Al-Ittihad just days after a supposed bust-up with Nuno Espirito Santo saw the former Spurs boss sacked as manager.<\/p>\n<p>The ex-Real Madrid striker opened the scoring from the penalty spot on Friday before adding two further goals in the second half to help his side to a 4-2 win against Abha.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Al-Ittihad&#8217;s victory ends a five-match winless streak in the league that contributed to the fall out between Benzema and Nuno.<\/p>\n<p>Following a midweek defeat to Iraqi side Al-Quwa Al-Juwiya in the AFC Asian Champions League, the pair reportedly had a heated exchange in the dressing room.<\/p>\n<p>Nuno, who won the Saudi Pro League title earlier this year, was dismissed just two days after the loss.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/21\/77668653-12736205-image-a-19_1699653263493.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Karim Benzema scored a hat-trick to help Al-Ittihad to a 4-2 win against Abha in the Saudi Pro League on Friday<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/21\/77668665-12736205-image-a-20_1699653266829.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Former Tottenham boss Nuno Espirito Santo was dismissed as Al-Ittihad manager this week after an alleged fall out with Benzema<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>He was only able to guide the team to two wins in nine games across all competitions in his final weeks in charge.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Al-Ittihad signed N&#8217;Golo Kante and Fabinho alongside Benzema in the summer and they are currently well off the pace in the chase for the league title.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Their poor recent form has seen them fall 11 points behind league leaders Al-Hilal.<\/p>\n<p>However, they did have something to smile about on Friday, as Benzema led them to victory against mid-table Abha.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The 35-year-old gave his side the lead in the 38th minute as he confidently guided a penalty beyond former Fiorentina and AC Milan goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu in the Abha goal.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/22\/77668843-12736205-image-a-21_1699653607012.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Benzema is now the third-highest goal scorer in the Saudi Pro League this season, with only Cristiano Ronaldo and Aleksandr Mitrovic ahead of him<\/p>\n<p>One-time Lyon striker Karl Toko Ekambi drew Abha level five minutes into the second half but Al-Ittihad hit back quickly through Brazilian Igor Coronado.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Benzema then put his side into an unassailable lead, cooly slotting home after being played in on goal before tapping in an unselfish pass from Coronado.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The hat-trick moved the French striker up to joint-third in the standings for top scorer, with only Cristiano Ronaldo and Aleksandr Mitrovic having found the net more than him.<\/p>\n<p>Fahad Bin Jumayah pulled one back late on for Abha but it was not enough to prevent Benzema grabbing the headlines for the second time this week.<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12736205\/Nuno-Karim-Benzema-hat-trick-Al-Ittihad-Spurs.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are you watching Nuno? Karim Benzema scores a hat-trick to help Al-Ittihad get back to winning ways&#8230; Just days after <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299009,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Karim Benzema scores hat-trick just days after Nuno bust-up - Sportstons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/karim-benzema-scores-hat-trick-just-days-after-nuno-bust-up\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Karim Benzema scores hat-trick just days after Nuno bust-up - Sportstons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Are you watching Nuno? 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